i searched...read all that stuff ...but when pulling the dist. i have a question....how exactly do you bring the #1 cylinder to top dead center?

 

If the balancer is good (the heavier part of the crank pulley) then you just line up the fatter timing line with the TDC mark on the timing tab, if you can read it (I can't so I use the other method), or you remove the spark plug from the number one cylinder (front pass side) and rotate the engine until you feel pressure against a thumb placed over the plug hole....

 

while it is #1 TDC, the distrib cap rotor will be pointing at about 6:30-7:00 (almost pointing to front of car, slightly to right).

 

when i was doing my head gasket i out a screw driver into the cyl and watched it and the valves as i turned the motor with a ratchet. youll see the valves move and the screw driver move out of the cyl. btw i had duct tape over the end of the screw driver so i wouldnt scratch anything.

 

If you're rebuilding it. There's just one thing nobody else ever mentions. Mark the gear when you pull it off the shaft. If you put it back on 180* off (like i did) then you'll be wondering why the rotor isn't lining back up with the mark when you reinstall it.

and if you're lazy then you'll have to rotate the whole distributer to match up to the rotor (like i did), instead of fixing it the right way.

 

What exactly are you pulling the dist. for? If you're just pulling it for a rebuild or something like that you don't need to find #1 TDC......

 

Just mark the distributor and some place on your firewall and/or intake. I do it on the firewall and on the intake. Mark the position of the rotor, not just the base.

 

Like Overclk350 & Cali were saying, if you don't crank the motor accidentally, you can just mark the rotor's position- no matter where it's at!- and be sure to drop the dist back in the same way. Now if you do turn the motor accientally, you'll have to find tdc of #1. So be sure to unplug that negative batt cable so you don't accidentally turn the key!

Although some of this was just covered by Maverick, here's a message that will help. https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=231128

And here's an old message of mine (at the bottom) that explains why you can never count on the rotor to be in any position for #1 TDC. The "short" explanation is that you can put a distributor in any way that you want, and you can't count on how GM might've installed them 10 years ago, or how whoever adjusted the dist 3 years ago. https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...threadid=60772

Finding tdc, by the way, is the way to "start fresh" with your timing. And you'd better have a timing gun!! Here's a super-bargain one, but beware of the quality: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=3343